Sushi
by jesssiesgirl
Summary: Cat wants Jade to stop being mean to her. So she tells Jade she's pretty. Cat/Jade one-shot; takes place sometime after Jade and Beck break up


Cat lets out a frustrated whine and clamps her eyes shut. She rocks back and forth and slaps her little hands against her thighs.

She had come to watch the dress rehearsal of Tori's play with the expectations of sushi at Nozu afterwards, but the lighting fixtures had malfunctioned and Beck had to call Sinjin, and what was originally planned to be a two hour rehearsal turned into a five and a half hour long wait.

Cat is confused; she can usually entertain herself for hours. Maybe it's the bright green streaks in Jade's hair because, she thinks, green tends to distract her. She had grown tired of watching Tori and Jade bicker and Andre try to break up the fights, so she giggled and cartwheeled between the seats in the audience, not caring when the chairs clattered to the floor and everyone sent her exasperated looks. But she caught sight of Jade's green hair and the cartwheels were forgotten. Cat took the butterfly clip out of her hair and threw it in the air, pretending that it was actually flying, but when it landed in her hand again, the green on the butterfly's wings reminded her of the green in Jade's hair.

So Cat stands directly in front of the stage, arms crossed, her eyes sparkling impatiently.

"What's wrong, Cat? Is it past your bedtime?" Jade smirks down from her seat on the edge of the stage.

"_No. _You guys are just taking a really long time, _okay_?" Cat leans her body forward and furrows her brow in hurt. She raises her breathy voice to almost a shout.

"Jeez, Cat, calm down. You don't have to freak out," Jade says. She raises her eyebrows.

"Hey, Little Red, we'll be finished soon. We just have to run a few more scenes and then we're done!" Andre jumps off the stage and stands next to Cat. "Wanna go help Tori carry the prop table onto the stage? I think she might be having some trouble…" Andre trails off as Tori's angry cries come from back stage.

Cat helps Tori by walking beside her and telling her stories, and when she's done she realizes that she hasn't thought of Jade's pretty hair in a while. Cat mentally congratulates herself and giggles, her hands playing with the hem of her blue sweatshirt. She feels better. Tori always cheers her up. Cat wishes that Jade could be as nice to her as Tori is.

Cat sits on the first row in the audience, folding her legs underneath her and humming, sometimes treating herself to glances at Jade.

"One time, my brother put bubble wrap in his sandwich. He had to go to the hospital," Cat says, giggling at the memory.

Andre's face twists in confusion. "Why did he eat bubble wrap? Why would anyone eat bubble wrap?"

Cat smiles and shrugs. "He was hungry!"

Tori finally announces that they're done and Cat cheers, jumping up and down on her toes and clapping her hands. Jade rolls her eyes.

Cat follows Jade out of the blackbox and watches her black curls bounce against her shoulders and her black leather jacket hug her hips. Cat reminds herself to tell Jade that she's pretty, because Cat's not sure Jade knows just how pretty she is and she thinks someone who looks like Jade deserves to know.

* * *

They had originally decided to skip Nozu that night, since it was one in the morning and the play was the next day, but Tori's stomach was growling loudly in the car, so they changed their minds.

Cat chews on a piece of sushi, but as the spicy taste hits her, she screams and spits out wet clumps of sushi. Her mouth burns and she thinks she might die. _"My face is on fire!_" Cat screams, growling and throwing her hands wildly over her head.

Someone, she thinks Robbie, shoves a glass of milk in her hand, and she tips her head back and pours it in her mouth, milk splashing onto her baby-blue sweatshirt.

"Cat, are you okay?" a worried Tori asks.

"Yeah, I think…" Cat whimpers, wiping her mouth with her hand. She looks up and sees Jade, her arms by her side, staring Cat with her mouth open. Green mush is stuck to her.

"Jade, what happened to your jacket?" Cat asks. She hopes it isn't ruined. Jade looks so good in it.

Jade glares at Cat. "_You_ happened, Cat!" She doesn't break eye contact with Cat. Cat wants to hide under the bar, but she think that would make Jade even madder.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" Cat cries, stomping her foot and leaning towards Jade. She doesn't understand why Jade is angry. All she knows is that Jade's jacket is messed up and she looks like she wants to kill someone and Cat's pretty sure that someone is her.

"_You _got your gross, spitty, chewed up sushi all over me!" Jade yells. "_That's _what it means!" She stomps out, slamming the door harder than Cat thought was possible.

Cat looks around, her eyes round and watery. "What?"

Tori puts her arms around her, and Cat is grateful for the contact. "I don't think Jade meant that, she's probably just upset about her clothes. Right, guys?" she turns to the others for support and they all voice their agreement.

"Yeah, Little Red, Jade's always like this!"

Cat disagrees. Jade isn't like this to _her. _

"Jade was just being her usual self: a gank!" Rex says, and Cat whirls around to face him.

"Jade is not a gank! She's just…" Cat isn't sure how to describe her, "she's just… Jade! I have to go apologize."

Cat's friends stay quiet as she swings the metal door open and steps into the warm night.

"Jade? Jade, where are you?" Cat calls, and skips to Andre's car and sees Jade's figure sitting in the passenger seat. Cat pulls the door open and sits down with a sigh. Her hands immediately find the steering wheel, and she imagines she's a racecar driver bending her car around the sharp curves of the track. "Rrrrrr….. rrr rrrrr…" Cat growls, pretending her voice is the engine.

"What are you _doing_?" Jade stares at her, her eyebrows almost hidden under her dark hair.

"I'm playing racecar! It's fun!" Cat says and smiles. For a second, she's distracted by Jade's hair and she decides that Jade should always keep her streaks green. Or red. Or blue. Or red _and _blue. Cat doesn't decide, after all.

"Cat!" Jade barks, snapping Cat out of her thoughts. "Why are you here?"

"I came to apologize…. for getting your jacket all gross and spitty and green…" Cat feels the tears coming again. She tries to fight them. "I didn't mean to."

"Oh," Jade says, staring at her feet propped up on the dashboard. She sounds tired. "I mean, I can always get another one if this is ruined…" She looks at the green mush still covering her front, and shudders.

Cat stares at Jade, unblinking. She thinks that maybe if she keeps her eyes open, the tears will go away. She's wrong.

"Cat, Cat, don't _cry!_" Jade looks around for help, but there's no one else there. Cat sniffles. "Please don't cry, I don't know how to deal with… _shit." _Tears fall steadily from Cat's eyes and her face scrunches up with every sob.

"It's just…" Cat chokes out, "you're _so mean _to me. All the time. I don't know what I do wrong! I'm sorry!" Cat's usually breathy voice squeaks. She opens her eyes her eyes. Jade is staring at her, eyes wide.

"Cat, I'm.. I-I…. I…." Jade stutters. Cat knows Jade isn't very good with apologies, so she lets her take her time. "I'm sorry. I guess I just… I don't know. I don't want to make you _cry." _Cat gives her a watery smile and Jade adds, "_Don't tell anyone I just said that._"

Cat knows Jade has a reputation to keep so she doesn't ask her what that was supposed to mean. "Do you think you're pretty?" Cat kicks her feat against the seat and twirls her hair.

Jade rolls her eyes. "Yes, Cat, I think I'm pretty."

"Good. Because you _are_ pretty." Cat's not sure why she's saying this now, but she feels like she needs to, like Jade needs to know.

Jade snaps her head around and narrows her eyes. "You think I'm pretty?" She sounds surprised.

"Of course!" Cat looks up at her and giggles. "You hair is especially pretty. It's really distracting. Your eyes are pretty, too, and your nose. And you look _super _pretty in that jacket!"

Jade glances down at her sushi-covered jacket and back up to Cat's eyes. "Really?"

Cat nods forcefully and frowns. She wonders why Jade doesn't believe her. "Yes! Why don't you believe me?"

Jade touches her hair self-consciously and bites her red lip. Her eyes are soft and scared.

Cat feels anxious but she's not sure why. She's never felt like this around anyone else before. She thinks that maybe she's afraid of Jade, but she forgets everything when Jade leans close to her and says, "I think you're pretty too, Cat."


End file.
